In-house Counsel

Is Delaware decision a sensible ‘chip in the attorney-client privilege’?

A former Wal-Mart lawyer who apparently sought an aggressive internal investigation into possible bribes at a corporate subsidiary in Mexico has said she can’t talk to investigators because of attorney-client privilege. In an interview with her alumni magazine at Arizona State University, Maritza Munich said she is available to speak…

Aug 27, 2014 3:47 PM CDT

Judge says BigLaw firm tried to ‘litigate plaintiff to death’

A Georgia judge has ordered Sutherland, Asbill & Brennan to pay $175,000 in attorney fees, saying the firm had a strategy of trying to “litigate [the] plaintiff to death.” Judge Dax Lopez of DeKalb County ordered the payment of attorney fees as a sanction in an amended order last Tuesday,…

Aug 25, 2014 11:15 AM CDT

GM legal department is reportedly under scrutiny by prosecutors

Employees in the legal department at General Motors are among GM workers reportedly being scrutinized by federal prosecutors who want to know whether evidence of a faulty ignition switch was concealed from regulators. The Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) reported the news, based on anonymous sources who are familiar with…

Aug 22, 2014 12:27 PM CDT

New wanted poster offers $10K reward for man charged with murder of Boston Scientific chief counsel

More than a week after a chief counsel for Boston Scientific was shot to death at a gas station outside Minneapolis, authorities are stepping up efforts to find the missing suspect charged with murder in the case. Commercial developer Lyle “Ty” Hoffman, 44, is identified as a former boyfriend and…

Aug 21, 2014 5:40 PM CDT

Tech test could give law firms an incentive to make efficiency gains

First they ignore you. Then they ridicule you. Then they attack you. Then you win. As a legal technology trainer, I’m eagerly anticipating the winning that should accompany the launch of the Suffolk Flaherty Legal Technology Audit. For more than a year, I’ve been working on the automated version of…

Aug 18, 2014 1:30 PM CDT

Top lawyer for tech company is slain; ex-roommate who lost eviction case is sought as suspect

A Minnesota lawyer who served as chief counsel for Boston Scientific worldwide businesses and was known as a caring, involved member of his community was shot and run over at a gas station outside Minneapolis on Monday. A suspect being sought in connection with the slaying of Kelly L. Phillips,…

Aug 12, 2014 8:30 PM CDT

Lawyer, business owner and CEO are criminally charged with usury over payday lending operation

A Tennessee lawyer is facing a criminal usury case in New York, along with a client company owner and his chief executive officer, for allegedly circumventing state law prohibiting high high interest on loans through a complex corporate thicket of payday loan operations. Owner Carey Vaughn Brown, 55, who started…

Aug 12, 2014 4:10 PM CDT

Let more in-house counsel do pro bono service, ABA House resolution says

Appellate courts in each jurisdiction should adopt a rule permitting in-house counsel to provide pro bono services in the jurisdiction in which they work, a new ABA policy urges. The ABA House of Delegates on Monday adopted Resolution 104B (PDF), calling on appellate courts to adopt a rule permitting and…

Aug 11, 2014 10:55 PM CDT

Pilot on Ebola rescue mission was company general counsel

One of the pilots who flew to Liberia to pick up an American missionary stricken with Ebola was the general counsel of the transport company hired for the mission. Randall Davis is vice president and general counsel of Phoenix Air Group Inc. in Georgia. He tells the Daily Report (sub.…

Aug 8, 2014 12:44 PM CDT

Lawyers offer tips on how to adapt to the ongoing disruption in the legal market

It’s no secret that the legal industry has undergone a radical shift over the last few years as clients are demanding better, faster and cheaper legal service. It’s a shift that continues to develop and could yet take some unexpected twists and turns. While that can be scary for many…

Aug 7, 2014 11:54 PM CDT

Ethics complaint accuses former GE lawyer of disclosing client secrets

An ethics complaint filed in Washington, D.C., accuses a former in-house lawyer for General Electric of disclosing confidential company information after she was fired. The complaint (PDF) against lawyer M. Adriana Koeck alleges she copied her computer hard drive and disclosed confidential information to the media and to federal agencies,…

Aug 4, 2014 3:51 PM CDT

As leaders blame GM lawyers for ignition woes, lawmaker asks: Why wasn’t general counsel fired?

During a Thursday hearing before a U.S. Senate commerce subcommittee, top General Motors Co. officials blamed in-house lawyers for the company’s delay in dealing effectively with a deadly ignition-switch issue that caused 54 accidents and at least 13 deaths over the course of a decade. But that led the subcommittee’s…

Jul 17, 2014 8:55 PM CDT

Former top attorney says city demoted and fired her for probing $10M sewer scheme

A former top attorney with the city of San Francisco has filed a wrongful termination claim over her demotion and firing. Joanne Hoeper says she first lost her position as chief trial deputy and then her job because she investigated a sewer scheme that cost the city some $10 million…

Jul 3, 2014 3:10 PM CDT

Microsoft’s general counsel blasts surveillance court; federal judge upholds bulk collection of data

Microsoft general counsel Brad Smith blasted the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court on Tuesday, saying it creates law “that the American public is not permitted to read.” In a speech at the Brookings Institution, Smith said the court, which reviews government data requests in its fight against terrorism, is unlike…

Jun 25, 2014 12:10 PM CDT

Is perfectionism detrimental to your career?

Perfectionists who fear failure focus on attention to detail, orderliness and schedules. But perfectionism can harm managers’ careers, experts say. Perfectionist supervisors can slow down projects and engender resentment among workers forced to perform even minor tasks with perfection, the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) reports. Career coaches provided examples,…

Jun 23, 2014 10:45 AM CDT